An advertising campaign for global insurance giant Aviva has been banned for encouraging reckless driving.
The ad saw ex-Formula 1 star David Coulthard don a taxi driver disguise and pick up a pair of unwitting passengers before speeding off in a series of death-defying stunts.
Coulthard, who raced on the F1 circuit more than 200 times with 62 podium finishes, speeds off in reverse before spinning the car around in between a pair of moving vehicles. The racer then hits the throttle, zipping around corners and over roundabouts before asking for a £53 fee.
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A voiceover then declares, “paying for other peoples’ bad driving. There’s no excuse for that,” and notes that customers could save over $200 on car insurance from Aviva.
The ad received a total of 58 complaints to the UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) and an investigation found that it encouraged “reckless driving,”
The Telegraph reports.
ASA found that the ad featured “reckless driving behaviours” and “encouraged dangerous and irresponsible driving” in a decision published last week.
“Furthermore, the manner in which the car was driven was extremely reckless and given it was performed in a regular vehicle and on public roads while showing other vehicles to be in motion, were scenes that could potentially be emulated by viewers, putting themselves and others at a significant risk of danger by driving hazardously and in an irresponsible manner.
“The ad must not appear again in its current form,” the ASA concluded.
A spokeswoman for Aviva told
The Telegraph that the ad will not appear on screens again.
“It’s always our intention to comply with advertising guidelines so we’re disappointed by the ASA’s ruling, but we will, of course, abide by the ASA’s decision,” the spokeswoman said. “We are absolutely committed to helping make Britain’s roads safer and we will continue to develop new initiatives with this goal in mind.”
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